


Adopt Me

by Avengerz



Category: Black Panther (2018), Black Panther (Comics), Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Cat Cafés, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-07-25
Packaged: 2018-07-26 14:37:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7577962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avengerz/pseuds/Avengerz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For a prompt on <a href="http://imagineironpanther.tumblr.com">ImagineIronPanther:</a> </p><p>"Imagine nonpowered!AU Tony as a major cat person who can't keep cats for some reason or another (maybe he's too busy, maybe he's afraid he can't take care of them when he can't take care of himself, etc etc) so he visits this cat cafe T'challa works at almost daily to play with the cats."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Adopt Me

**Author's Note:**

> This is mainly to apologize for my angst-fest of two days ago ngl.

The bell over the door jingles, and T’Challa looks up from the espresso machine. “Hello, Tony,” he says, smiling when he realizes who’s walked in. The man grins and slips off his sunglasses. **  
**

“What’s up, your highness?”

T’Challa huffs out a laugh at the nickname. “If you keep calling me that I’m going to get a complex.”

Tony shrugs, unrepentant. “Hey, it fits. With how these cats treat you, you might as well be the cat king.” T’Challa rolls his eyes as Tony’s attention is drawn down to the cat twining herself around Tony’s legs.

“Hi, Okoye,” Tony coos, crouching down to pet the smug creature. “How are you doing, huh, babe? T’Challa been giving you plenty of treats?”

T’Challa slides a bemused woman her espresso before turning back to Tony. “I hardly need to, with how much you pamper her.” Tony looks up at him, a guilty expression crossing his face as Okoye happily nibbles at the treats he’s holding in his cupped hand. “Caught red-handed.” T’Challa raises an eyebrow. “She’s going to get fat at this rate.”

Tony scoffs as he straightens. “And that would be a bad thing?” He crosses the cafe, carefully avoiding the cats dozing on various cushions, to settle on a bar stool at the counter. T’Challa sets down his regular, a cappuccino that’s more sugar than coffee, with a mound of whipped cream and a dash of cinnamon. “I’m going to get fat if you keep feeding my sugar addiction,” Tony says, but he eagerly grabs the mug. T’Challa watches in amusement as he gulps at it, undeterred by the cat that leaps up into his lap.

The cup’s half empty when Tony finally sets it down in favor of stroking Hunter. There’s a a dash of whipped cream left on his nose, and T’Challa resists the urge to reach out and wipe it off. They’ve been friends for months now, ever since T’Challa opened Wakanda, but T’Challa hasn’t earned that right, hasn’t earned that intimacy. No matter how much he longs for it.

“You’ve got something on your nose,” he says instead, and Tony swipes at it absentmindedly.

“Hey, bud,” he coos, his attention focused on Hunter in that single-minded way he has. T’Challa wonders, briefly, what it would be like to have all that kindness and attention directed towards him. “How’re you doing? Getting enough pets?” The cat purrs and pushes his head into Tony’s hand.

“You come in here every day, Tony,” T’Challa says. “He’s had an entire life’s supply of petting from you alone.”

Tony grins up at T’Challa, almost blinding with how bright it is, and T’Challa’s breath catches in his throat. “Oh, don’t be like that. I know you spoil them just as much as soon as the cafe closes for the day.” T’Challa swallows hard and doesn’t try to deny it.

“I’m fostering them, though,” he points out mildly. “I have an excuse.”

It’s not meant to be a jab at Tony, but the man grimaces anyways. “You know that if I could I’d adopt them all. Pepper says I’ve got to learn how to take care of myself before I take on any other living creatures.”

T’Challa chuckles. He likes Pepper, or at least everything he’s heard about her after he learned that she wasn’t, as he’d originally assumed, Tony’s girlfriend.

“I’d take them home if I could,” Tony says, with odd weight to the words as he watches his own hand brush through Hunter’s fur. T’Challa watches with growing confusion as Tony swallows thickly and looks up at T’Challa. “I’d take you home if I could, too.”

T’Challa feels his eyes widen, his mouth part as he sucks in a sharp breath. Tony looks nervous, staring at him and fidgeting slightly in his seat, and T’Challa can’t summon any words. As the silence stretches longer, Tony’s face falls and he gently drops Hunter to the ground. “Uh, sorry, I guess I misread the, uh, the situation.” He stands, the bar stool skittering across the floor, and jerks a thumb towards the door. “I’ll just go. Sorry.”

Tony steps back, and T’Challa finally overcomes his shock. He jolts forward, reaching across the counter to grab Tony’s wrist. “No, wait.”

Something like home crosses Tony’s face as he looks from T’Challa’s hand around his wrist up to meet T’Challa’s gaze. T’Challa smiles. “I don’t know about going home with you, but how about we start with dinner? I think we can skip the coffee date, considering.” He nods down at the remnants of Tony’s diabetes-inducing coffee, and Tony chuckles, shocked and incredulous but genuine.

“Dinner it is, then.” He twists his wrist, maneuvers their hands until T’Challa’s fingers are tangled with his. He’s beaming, and T’Challa knows he’s grinning just as widely. “It’s a date.”

They’re caught for a moment, lost in each other’s eyes. Then Okoye meows impatiently and Tony laughs and bends down to feed her a few more treats from his pocket.

“You’ve got to stop doing that,” T’Challa says, impossibly fond.

Tony grins up at him, brown eyes dancing. “You’re not going to stop me.”

T’Challa smiles back. No, he’s not.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find more IronPanther at our new [ImagineIronPanther blog](http://imagineironpanther.tumblr.com) or find me on my [tumblr.](http://anthonyfuckingstark.tumblr.com)
> 
> Comments are, as always, adored.


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